Digital Energy Futures: Scenarios for Future Living (2030/2050) launched at the 2023 Energy Consumers Australia’s Foresighting Forum
Digital Energy Futures: Scenarios for Future Living (2030/2050), the latest report developed by the Digital Energy Futures research team, launched at Energy Consumers Australia’s Foresighting Forum 2023 - Energising Australians.
The report represents the final stage of the landmark four year research project investigating Australians’ future lives and the implications for energy forecasting.
Developed in partnership with Energy Consumers Australia, Ausgrid and AusNet Services, and launched as part of the Energy Consumers Australia’s Foresighting Forum 2023 - Energising Australians, was presented as part of an immersive Digital Energy Futures Room where attendees had the chance to see and experience what homes and energy patterns of the future might look like.
The report itself is the fifth report released by the research team, and tracks three diverse households – the busy Johnson family, Chinese-born migrant Xinyi and her cat Mimi, and retirees Ruth and Robert – as they adjust to emerging lifestyle and technology trends across four different scenarios.
The characters and scenarios they face have been informed by extensive research conducted during earlier phases of the project, including multiple focus group workshops, an ethnographic study with more than 70 households, and trends from Energy Consumers Australia’s Energy Consumer Behaviour Survey.
“Through our carefully designed scenarios we are able to illustrate the lives of three diverse households to explore the nitty-gritty of daily life in the future – things like changing living circumstances, working patterns or emerging health concerns – to update and expand current industry scenarios.", project leader Professor Yolande Strengers said of the report and scenarios.
Energy Consumers Australia CEO Lynne Gallagher said the project had set a new paradigm for understanding consumers and their key role in the energy transition.
“While the future is uncertain, one thing we are sure of is that consumers must be placed right at the core of our planning if we are to reap the full benefits of transition to net zero,” Ms Gallagher said.
“This report challenges government and industry to think more deeply about the experiences of a range of consumers, including what drives them to engage with emerging technologies as well as the barriers preventing participation by others.
Access the full interactive report here.
